US Budgetary Costs of Post-9/11 Wars Through FY2018: $5.6 Trillion

Neta C. Crawford (2017)Executive Summary (pdf) | Full Report (pdf)PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] – The costs to the United States of post-9/11 wars will total more than $5.6 trillion by the end of fiscal year 2018, a new Costs of War report finds, and the average American taxpayer has spent $23,386 on these wars since 2001.
“The U.S. wars in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the increased spending on homeland security and the departments of defense, state and veterans affairs since the 9/11 attacks have cost more than $4.3 trillion in current dollars through fiscal year 2017,” said Neta Crawford, Costs of War co-director and a professor of political science at Boston University. “Adding likely costs for fiscal year 2018 and estimated future obligations for veterans’ care, the costs of war total more than $5.6 trillion.”